expanded with some more tidbits - this article can still use a rewrite
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'''Animancy''' is the field of study that uses machines to examine essence, i.e. [[soul]] energy. ''Animancers'' are scientists that specialize in understanding how souls work. They tend to be mechanical inventors and tinkerers since so much of animancy is only possible through [[technology]]. Most of them also advocate using technology to manipulate souls with various goals. Some Animancers even capture souls when a person dies and use the captured soul to create a construct.<ref>[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3506352&userid=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post418912094 somethingawful forum post] by [[Josh Sawyer]]</ref> Some regard this as
Necromancy
.
+
'''Animancy''' is the field of study that uses machines to examine essence, i.e. [[soul]] energy. ''Animancers'' are scientists that specialize in understanding how souls work. They tend to be mechanical inventors and tinkerers since so much of animancy is only possible through [[technology]]. Most of them also advocate using technology to manipulate souls with various goals
. While it is not inherently evil, its purview of control over our soul and possible life/death is a sensitive subject for many
. Some Animancers even capture souls when a person dies and use the captured soul to create a construct.<ref>[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3506352&userid=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post418912094 somethingawful forum post] by [[Josh Sawyer]]</ref> Some regard this as
attempting to disrupt the natural cycle of life and death are considered to be engaging in [[soul|necromancy]]
.
==History==
==History==
−
Before this [[timeline|era of time]]
, study of the soul was very taboo. There were a lot of religious prohibitions against it, because of religious beliefs or ethical concerns. There were a lot of political forces that were against it. Notably in the [[Aedyr Empire]] and its colonies [[Free Palatinate of Dyrwood|Dyrwood]] and [[Penitential Regency of Readceras|Readceras]]. However, in the last hundred years or so Animancy has flourished. It's been legal to research and practice in the Dyrwood (through omission from the law) since the revolution a few centuries ago, but it's only lately that it has received more official legal recognition and benefits from extensive interactions with the Vailian Republics. The Dyrwood and Vailian Republics are the two leading nations in animancy research.
+
Animancy existed for centuries
,
but it didn't come into its own until the last hundred years or so, before
study of the
[[
soul
]]
was very taboo
, regulated and or banned
.
<ref name="regulate">[http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66212-some-questions-about-undeath-in-poe/?p=1451318 Obsidian forum post] by [[Josh Sawyer]], 20/05/14</ref>
There were a lot of religious prohibitions against it, because of religious beliefs
, traditions and
or ethical concerns. There were a lot of political forces that were against it. Notably in the [[Aedyr Empire]] and its colonies [[Free Palatinate of Dyrwood|Dyrwood]] and [[Penitential Regency of Readceras|Readceras]]. However, in the last hundred years or so Animancy has flourished. It's been legal to research and practice in the Dyrwood (through omission from the law
and there was enough pressure from powerful/moneyed people that even wild research continues with little oversight
) since the revolution a few centuries ago, but it's only lately that it has received more official legal recognition and benefits from extensive interactions with the Vailian Republics. The Dyrwood and Vailian Republics are the two leading nations in animancy research
.
+
+
Currently Animancy is at the beginning of a golden age of discovery of scientific fact and of human nature. Animancers try to answer questions like do animals have souls? How are their souls different from our souls? How do our minds, our actual physical brains, interact with the soul that is in us? If we put an animal soul in a human's body, or a human soul in an animal body, how does that change those things? And in this [[world]], a lot of people have big ethical problems with that, with Animancy still being regulate or ban in most nations of the world
.
Despite a not-insignificant contingency of people who think souls are best left alone, Animancers have decided the benefits are too powerful to ignore—fixing insanity, adjusting personality flaws, and even understanding the nature of life, death, and reincarnation. There are cool things that have happened—people have found out how to adjust and influence a person's soul and personality through this—but there are also catastrophically bad things that have happened—created monsters and horrible creatures from it.<ref>[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/10/mega-impressions-obsidians-pillars-of-eternity/ Mega-Impressions: Obsidian’s Pillars Of Eternity], rockpapershotgun, 10/12/2013</ref><ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/article/2071422/obsidians-project-eternity-is-exactly-the-nostalgia-dose-you-ordered.html PCworld Interview] with [[Josh Sawyer]], 10/12/13</ref><ref>[http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/64747-issues-with-npcitem-surveys/page-3#entry1400397 Obsidian forum post] by [[Josh Sawyer]], 18/12/13</ref>
Despite a not-insignificant contingency of people who think souls are best left alone, Animancers have decided the benefits are too powerful to ignore—fixing insanity, adjusting personality flaws, and even understanding the nature of life, death, and reincarnation. There are cool things that have happened—people have found out how to adjust and influence a person's soul and personality through this—but there are also catastrophically bad things that have happened—created monsters and horrible creatures from it.<ref>[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/10/mega-impressions-obsidians-pillars-of-eternity/ Mega-Impressions: Obsidian’s Pillars Of Eternity], rockpapershotgun, 10/12/2013</ref><ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/article/2071422/obsidians-project-eternity-is-exactly-the-nostalgia-dose-you-ordered.html PCworld Interview] with [[Josh Sawyer]], 10/12/13</ref><ref>[http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/64747-issues-with-npcitem-surveys/page-3#entry1400397 Obsidian forum post] by [[Josh Sawyer]], 18/12/13</ref>
==Fields of study==
==Fields of study==
−
For centuries Animancers thought to develop a discipline or [[technology]] that would allow people to connect with the soul of another living thing -- not just reach or strike out toward it. [[Wizard]]s and [[priest]]s had developed abilities to overwhelm or inspire the mind, but not to connect with it. Animancers theorized that it could be possible for one soul to reach out and connect to another, but they had no proof. Animancers studied folk legends about figures called Watchers who reportedly were able to see lost souls and perceive an individual's ancestral lives, but claimants to that title were typically charlatans at best or mentally unstable and violent at worst. A few intrepid animancers attempted to communicate with the reclusive spider-like race known as the vithrack. The creatures, obviously of advanced intelligence and extraordinary capabilities, seemed to possess the ability to connect to an individual's soul -- albeit with horrifying consequences. The dangerous nature and rarity of the
[[
vithrack
]]
combined with their inhuman physiology have still proven to be insurmountable obstacles in understanding how their powers work.
Eventually
Dyrwoodan
animancers
that Glanfathans had developed mental abilities that allowed them to perceive and contact what animancers categorized as "housed" souls, i.e., souls held within a physical vessel. Excited by these revelations, animancers in Defiance Bay began working with the brîshalgwin. For decades now, the ciphers and animancers have worked together, each generating new ideas and expanding their collective understanding of soul manipulation. Spreading all over the world<ref name="upd65">[http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/64452-update-65-ciphers/ Developer Update #65], 02/10/13</ref>
+
====Soul manipulation====
+
For centuries Animancers thought to develop a discipline or [[technology]] that would allow people to connect with the soul of another living thing -- not just reach or strike out toward it. [[Wizard]]s and [[priest]]s had developed abilities to overwhelm or inspire the mind, but not to connect with it. Animancers theorized that it could be possible for one soul to reach out and connect to another, but they had no proof. Animancers studied folk legends about figures called Watchers who reportedly were able to see lost souls and perceive an individual's ancestral lives, but claimants to that title were typically charlatans at best or mentally unstable and violent at worst. A few intrepid animancers attempted to communicate with the reclusive spider-like race known as the
[[
vithrack
]]
. The creatures, obviously of advanced intelligence and extraordinary capabilities, seemed to possess the ability to connect to an individual's soul -- albeit with horrifying consequences. The dangerous nature and rarity of the vithrack combined with their inhuman physiology have still proven to be insurmountable obstacles in understanding how their powers work.
+
+
Following the [[War of the Black Trees]]
Dyrwoodan
Animancers discovered
that Glanfathans had developed mental abilities that allowed them to perceive and contact what animancers categorized as "housed" souls, i.e., souls held within a physical vessel. Excited by these revelations, animancers in Defiance Bay began working with the brîshalgwin. For decades now, the ciphers and animancers have worked together, each generating new ideas and expanding their collective understanding of soul manipulation. Spreading all over the world<ref name="upd65">[http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/64452-update-65-ciphers/ Developer Update #65], 02/10/13</ref>
+
====Captured Souls====
Animancers will sometimes capture souls when a person dies, but placing a soul back into a body that has already died usually produces *~ bad things ~*. Engwithans placed warrior souls into bronze armor to create animats (a Vailian term, not theirs), but animats have limited memory and consciousness. Dyrwoodan and Vailian animancers have been creating their own constructs using contemporary mechanics and metallurgy. Making a construct takes a lot of time and money, but the results have exceeded what the Engwithans were capable of on an individual scale.<ref>[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3506352&userid=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post418912094 SA forum post]</ref>
Animancers will sometimes capture souls when a person dies, but placing a soul back into a body that has already died usually produces *~ bad things ~*. Engwithans placed warrior souls into bronze armor to create animats (a Vailian term, not theirs), but animats have limited memory and consciousness. Dyrwoodan and Vailian animancers have been creating their own constructs using contemporary mechanics and metallurgy. Making a construct takes a lot of time and money, but the results have exceeded what the Engwithans were capable of on an individual scale.<ref>[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3506352&userid=17931&perpage=40&pagenumber=14#post418912094 SA forum post]</ref>